224 



Appendices to Twenty -fifth Annual Report 



No matter where the fishermen find the fish they are always met by a 

 curer ready to purchase, cure, and prepare them for market. 



It is not only the fishermen who have benefited by the success of the 

 herring fishing, but the workers on shore also, especially the gutters and 

 packers, many of whom belong to the Western Isles, and in the course 

 of a successful season make very good earnings. Probably no district of 

 Scotland benefits so much from the East Coast herring fishing as does 

 the Island of Lewis, and with so little outlay on the part of the 

 inhabitants, as a very large proportion of the hired fishermen and shore- 

 workers come from that district. Success has certainly attended the 

 herring fishery on the East Coast of Scotland and Shetland during the 

 past few years, but no one can say that it has come to the fishermen 

 while they have stood with folded arms. 



There was daring the year a still further decrease in the number of 

 sailing boats, and also in the quantity and value of their fishing gear. 

 This decrease in sailing boats began in the year 1899, and has goue on 

 to a greater or less extent annually ever since. The decrease in that 

 period amounts to about 1800 boats, and consists mostly of small and 

 worn-out craft, which were of little value. While the number has 

 decreased to such an extent, the sailers now in use, together with their 

 fishing gear, have increased in value by a sum of .£230,000 when compared 

 with 1898. 



Means of In steam drifters there was an increase of 65 on the number of 



Capture. vessels at work in 1905, making the total number belonging to 

 Scotland 274, valued at over £700,000. There is every indication that 

 this number will during the coming year be increased by fully 100 new 

 vessels at a cost of not less than a quarter of a million pounds. In 

 addition to these there were 271 steam vessels belonging to ports on the 

 East Coast of England employed during the herring fishing season 

 chiefly in Shetland waters, and which are now included for the first time 

 in the means of capture returns (App. A 1). 

 Steam The trawling branch of the industry is also making progress, though 



Trawler*. not w j t | 1 suc h rapid strides as was the case a few years ago. There has 

 been an increase of ten in the number of vessels as compared with the 

 figures for 1 905, but that by no means represents the actual number of 

 nevy vessels added to the flbet, as several small vessels have been sold, 

 and a few wrecked, all of which have been replaced by new vessels. The 

 trawling industry shows every sign of being in a fairly prosperous 

 condition. 



In the total value of boats and fishing gear comprising the means of 

 capture of the Scottish fisheries there is an increase of over £80,000 

 compared with the figures for the preceding year. The total estimated 

 value for 1906 is no less than £4,111,496, while there is every likelihood 

 that this immense sum will be increased by almost half a million pounds 

 during the coming year, owing to the number of steam vessels both for 

 trawl and drift net fishing which are in course of construction all over 

 the East Coast, The orders have been so numerous that often there lias 

 been difficulty in getting them placed, the chief trouble being in getting 

 the engines manufactured. When the steam vessels were first introduced 

 they were built of wood, then for two or three years steel was preferred, 

 and now wood is again being reverted to, a large majority of the 

 vessels now in course of construction being of that material. The fisher- 

 men think the wood-built vessels are more buoyant, and no doubt they 

 are from £500 to £700 cheaper than the steel vessels. 

 Fish Landed. The total quantity of fish landed during the year was rather less than 

 in 1905, but was considerably over the average of the five preceding 

 years, while the value of all kinds of fish, exclusive of shellfish, 



